A Bright Future
by Dipper Dots
Summary: After being rejected yet again, a 16-year-old Dipper is convinced he'll never have a girlfriend. Mabel enlists the help of a friend to prove him wrong. (A little Wendippity)
As she was walking to her class, Mabel spotted Dipper sluggishly strolling down the school hallway with a frown on his face and his shoulders slumped. She could definitely tell something was wrong with her twin and instantly made it her day's mission to find out what and fix it. She pushed through the sea of people in the crowded hall, getting a few glares in response to which she sheepishly apologized. When she reached her brother, she grabbed his shoulders from behind, causing him to jump and spin around. When he saw that it was her, he slumped again, turned and continued walking.

Mabel froze for a split second, slightly shocked at her brother's reaction. He _never_ just ignored her. He'd a least give a little 'Go away Mabel.' or 'I don't wanna talk right now.'. The girl frowned. _This must be really bad._ She, of course, would have none of it.

She marched toward Dipper with a stern, determined look. This time, she grabbed his noodle arm and pulled him out of the way of the crowd. The boy gave an exasperated sigh, and looked to Mabel with an annoyed expression.

"Hey, what was that all about?" She asked, replacing her stern look with one of concern. Dipper's face fell as he stared to the floor, avoiding her gaze. "Look, I'm sorry I just...I just...I-I gotta go." He tried to walk away, but Mabel's hand was still wrapped tightly around his arm. "C'mon, Mabel, I'm gonna be late." He tried to yank his arm out of her grasp but had no luck. "Nuh-uh! You don't get to go to your nerdy math class until you tell me what's wrong!" A few stragglers left in the hall curiously stared at the pair, causing Dipper to briefly blush. He sighed in defeat.

"I'll tell you later."

"Promise?" She held out a pinky. Dipper latched his pinky with hers. This satisfied Mabel, so she released his arm, gave him a quick hug and skipped off to her class.

Dipper lingered for a second, watching Mabel skip off. He let out a groan. Mabel took pinky promises _very_ seriously, so now he _had_ to tell her. He walked off to his class, moving quickly since he was already late.

Upon reaching his 'nerdy math class' five minutes late, he opened the door causing everyone to stare at him. The teacher stopped her lesson and gave him a look. "Why are you late?"

"I-uh- got hung up." He sheepishly stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I guess you can make up the time you lost in detention after school." The teacher spat back, pulling a slip out of her pocket, signing it, and shoving it toward him. A few of his classmates snickered. Dipper took the slip with a sigh. _Could this day get any worse?_

He took his usual seat alone in the back and tried to pay attention to the lesson. However, his mind kept returning to the disaster that ensued earlier with his current-or now ex- crush. He finally worked up the courage to ask her on a date, only to get shot down and laughed at by her and her entire group of friends. He suppressed a groan at the embarrassing memory. A similar thing happened with another girl a couple years ago. And a year before that... However, this was definitely the most humiliating instance. He sighed, childishly drawing a sad face in his notebook. _He'd never get a girlfriend..._

* * *

Mabel sat in her art class, unable to focus on her painting. Her thoughts kept going back to her solemn brother. She racked her brain, trying to guess what was making him so upset. _Did he fail a test? No, he wouldn't get so worked up over that... Did he trip in public? No, he does that all the time; he's probably used to it._

She pressed her brush to the canvas, making an effort to finish her painting. Her phone buzzed, and she fished it out of her smock pocket. It was a text from Dipper: _"Have detention. Can't drive you home today."_

Mabel groaned loudly, causing her classmates to stare at her. She chuckled awkwardly as she shoved her phone away. After the attention was off of her, she huffed. She _hated_ riding the bus.

A few minutes later, Mabel overheard her brother's name in her classmates' conversation. She turned her head and spotted the talking trio by the sinks. She grabbed her paintbrushes and headed to them. She turned on the water and began washing the brushes. The teen didn't need to wash her brushes- she wasn't even done painting- ,but she just had to eavesdrop.

"Yeah, apparently he asked Britney out. I can't believe it."

"Oh my gosh, she didn't actually say _yes_ , did she?"

"Of course not! Britney's dumb, but not dumb enough to date _that_ loser."

The girls erupted with cruel giggles as they walked back to their stations. Mabel boiled with anger. _How dare they talk about him like that. Okay, Mabel, time to throw down. Wait, no. That'll make it worse..._

She sighed and went back to her painting. _Poor Dipper..._

* * *

Dipper left the school half an hour late, feeling extremely frustrated. He didn't even get to work on his homework in detention, all he got was a lecture about how he shouldn't be late and then a pointless quiz on the effects of being late. His teacher definitely overdid it. At least the ordeal got his mind off the earlier events of the day for a little while. He groaned again as he slammed his car door closed and began driving off. Another thought crossed his mind: Now he had to explain what happened to Mabel. He didn't know why he was so reluctant to tell her; he never withheld anything from his twin. Then, it hit him. _He was totally jealous of her._

Mabel had tons of friends. Guys rarely rejected her, and when they did, she didn't even care. She'd just continue being her happy, bubbly self. Dipper didn't understand how she did it. He wished he could be like her. He shook his head as he pulled into the driveway. As he stepped out, he immediately noticed his twin peering out the window. With a sigh, he entered the house, prepared to be bombarded by questions.

He was caught off guard when all he received was a hug as he walked through the door. "Hey, bro-bro. I made some special feel-better cookies for you." She held up a plate topped with a mountain of pink chocolate-chip cookies with a thousand sprinkles on each one. A small, half-hearted smile briefly flashed on his face as he took one of the cookies.

"Thanks, Mabel..."

His twin gave a gentle smile. "No prob, bro."

Mabel waited until he finished his third cookie to bring up what happened. "Soo..." She started. Dipper frowned, immediately knowing where this was going. "I heard about what happened..."

He sighed, slumping down on the couch. The boy grabbed a pillow, shoving his face in it and letting out a long whine. His twin softly placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Dip. She obviously doesn't know a good thing when she sees it! You're super smart and really nice..." She continued piling him with a mountain of optimism until he interrupted her. "Mabel, it's not gonna help. It's obvious I'm just destined to be a lonely nerd for the rest of my life. I guess I just have to accept that." He lamented as he looked to his sister. "And _you_ do too." He added as he stood up and lightly threw the pillow into her lap.

"Wait! Dip, that's _not_ true!"

Mabel watched as her brother sulked off to his bedroom. Her mind started reeling: _No, no, no, no, no! She can't let him think that about himself. Dipper is awesome, and he needs to realize it._ The girl got so into her thoughts that she slammed her fist down on the couch. _She knows he'll find someone some day, but obviously telling him that isn't enough._

Suddenly a brilliant idea popped into her head. If she can't _tell_ him... she'll just _show_ him. She giggled giddily at her genius plan. However, carrying it out may prove difficult. She'd need help from an old friend...

* * *

It was approaching 3:00AM, and Mabel was pacing around her room, trying to come up with a way to get Blendin Blanden to come here. She let out a loud, "Ugh!" as she came up with nothing. If only there was some kind of time-traveler summoning whistle or chant. She pulled at her hair. _This was beyond frustrating..._ She paced straight into her end table, causing a lamp to topple onto the ground. "Dang it." She remarked as she bent to pick it up.

All of a sudden, a bright flash outside the window startled her. She heard the metallic bang of a ladder being pressed against the house and yelped. The girl fetched up her lamp and cautiously walked to the window, holding it in front of her for defense. Mabel heard someone struggling to open the window, so she quickly opened the blinds. She pointed her makeshift weapon at the intruder who practically screeched. Recognition and then elation quickly washed over her. She threw open the window, pulling her visitor inside.

"Woah! Did I summon you!? Am I a witch?" Mabel excited babbled, holding her lamp in the air. "No, I got sent here to investigate a time anomaly."

"Oh..." Mabel said as she dropped the lamp.

"Ah! Here we go!" Blendin stated as he picked up the lamp and set it neatly on the end table. "That lamp wasn't supposed to fall. Apparently, it'd have disastrous consequences or something?" He let out a cringe-worthy screeching chuckle. "Anyway, I guess I can go now." The man headed for the window.

"Wait! No!" Mabel stopped him as she held out her hand. "I...I need your help with something."

"What?" Blendin cautiously asked as he turned to face her. Mabel pushed a lock of hair behind her ears and quickly explained. "So, Dipper's really sad 'cause he thinks he's gonna be alone forever, and he won't listen to me when I tell him that that's stupid poop-talk, so I thought it would make him feel better if you could take him into the future so I can prove him wrong..."

Blendin paused with a dumbfounded look as he processed the information. "W-What!? No! Do you know how much trouble I could get in for that!?"

"I know, but it's reeeeaalllyyyy important! Please!" Mabel clasped her hands together and gave him puppy-dog eyes. "Pleeeease!" She added for good measure.

"No! A-Absolutely not! I-I-I don't want to go to prison again!" He stammered.

"Come on! You totally owe us! Look at your beautiful hair! We did that, Blendin. Us! All us!"

"Yeah, I know, but t-this is not okay! I can do anything else to make up for that!"

Mabel decided to try a different approach: _the pity approach_. She'd used this on Dipper plenty of times... The girl let her shoulders slump and sniffled a bit. "O-okay. I-I'm sorry. I j-just wanted to make-" She sniffled again. "-my brother happy." She broke out with a convincing sob.

"O-oh no! Please don't cry. I-I'll-" Blendin threw his head in his hands as he internally fought with himself. "W-what if _I_ just tell him? He'd believe _me_ r-right?"

Mabel continued fake-crying, slightly increasing the volume after his remark. Telling wasn't enough. She knew how stubborn Dipper could be. Besides, part of her really wanted to see the future too.

"O-oh man. I guess..." He sighed. Mabel stopped crying, looked up at him with tear-stained cheeks and sniffled. "I-I guess I'll see what I can do..."

A huge grin took over Mabel's face; she threw her arms around the man, getting an awkward chuckle and a pat on the back in return. She jumped around, little squeals escaping her lips every time her feet hit the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Oooooo, I can't wait!" She gave Blendin one last bear hug before rocketing off to her brother's room.

She launched herself onto his bed, startling him out of his slumber. He yelled and thrashed violently. "Hey! Dip! Dipper! Calm down!" She smacked his face. He stared at her incredulously, his heart pounding. "Mabel! What the heck, you scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry, bro! I'm just so excited!" She squealed again and squished his cheeks. She pulled his face closer to her's so their noses were touching. "Why? Wha' happen'?" Dipper murmured, struggling to talk with his face being squished together. She released his cheeks and switched her grip to his skinny arm, pulling him out of the bed and to her room. When they arrived at the bedroom just down the hall, Mabel dramatically held her arms out at Blendin who gracelessly waved.

"Uh... You wanna clue me in a little more here?" Dipper prodded. "Sure thing, bro!" Mabel happily yammered. "So, Blendin's gonna take us to the future to see what our lives are like when we're older!" She grinned.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asked his twin, then looked behind her to Blendin. "Not rea-" The man began. "It doesn't matter!" Mabel interrupted. "I'm gonna prove that you're wrong. You're gonna get to find out what lucky lady gets to date you!" A distressing thought crossed her mind that caused her smile to falter a little: _what if Dipper really doesn't have a girlfriend?_ She quickly shook it away and grinned again.

"I really don't think that's a good idea..." Dipper protested. "You're right, Dip. It's not a good idea. It's a _great_ idea!"

He opened his mouth to object again. Mabel glared. "It's happening. You can't stop it." The girl turned back to the man awkwardly standing in the corner. "Ready to go?" She asked. "I-I guess. Oh man, I'm gonna get in so much trouble..." He pulled out his tape-measure-resembling time traveling device. Mabel put her hand on the device and used her other hand to beckon her brother over. He sighed and reluctantly did the same. "So-uh- how far do you guys wanna go?" Blendin asked. "Hmmm..." Mabel thought. "How about ten years?" He pulled the device out to the ten year mark and let go. "Wooo!" Mabel yelled for good measure as they flashed away.

* * *

They flashed into a dark, modest apartment. Dipper felt disappointment as soon as he got a look at the apartment. _This definitely looked like a single loser's apartment..._ He slumped.

"O-Okay, here we are. Please make this quick okay? I-I can't be here too long..."

"Woah, why's it so dark?" Mabel questioned as she looked around. "It's three in the morning, Mabel." Dipper replied, pointing to a clock on the wall. "Oh... Didn't really think this through..."

"C'mon, Mabel, let's just go. Look at this place. I obviously live alone."

"No! You don't know that!" The twins argued.

"Guys! W-what did I say? You need to hur-" The man's pleas were interrupted by a loud, clanging thud. Blendin Blandin fell to the ground, revealing a lanky redhead holding a large pot over her shoulder. The twins looked behind her and saw a thin, goateed man peering out from behind a wall, armed with another pot. The pair took a good look at the teens that accompanied the man the woman had practically just assaulted.

Wendy recognized the teens immediately, as did the man behind her. She gawked incredulously. She then looked down at the man she'd just hit, turning red when she realized that it was Blendin. "Oh, man." She facepalmed as she dropped the pot. Wendy was only slightly fazed by the visitors, everyone else, however, was staring stupidly at each other. She tried to break the tension. "So this is... pretty weird..."

"Yeah..." The man behind her agreed. Mabel looked between the two adults and quickly made the connection. She erupted with an ear piercing squeal. "I told you! I told you! I told you! I told you! I told you!" She repeated while poking her brother's nose. The younger Dipper opened his mouth, but no words came out. His mind was moving at a thousand miles per hour. _Wendy is his future girlfriend? No, that's impossible. Maybe she's just visiting...Yeah, that has to be it._

Mabel grinned at the couple. She already knew, but she had to ask for her brother's sake: "Omigosh, are you guys dating?"

The man scratched his head. "Well, we're-"

"Mabel, shut up!" The teen Dipper snapped back to reality and shoved his sister. Mabel shoved back. "Hey! I'm just trying to _help_ you!"

"...married." The redhead finished. Teen Dipper immediately froze and gaped at Wendy, blushing fiercely. Meanwhile, Mabel stood beside him, bouncing out of excitement. The woman chuckled at the younger version of her husband. "Oh, _dude_ , look how _awkward_ you were."

"Wha-? Shut up..." The older blushed. Wendy shook her head and turned to Mabel. "Nothing's really changed." She whispered to the teen purposely being loud enough for the others to hear. Her husband stepped foward and playfully shoved her arm. Wendy responded by locking his neck with her arm and ruffling his hair with her other hand. "Don't shove me, dork." Both giggled.

Mabel was beaming. "This is the greatest day of my life!"

The previously knocked-out time traveler began to awaken. He sat up, tenderly rubbing his head. "W-What was that for!?" He shouted as he whirled around to look at his attacker. "Sorry about that, man... You could've been a serial killer for all I knew..." She replied sheepishly.

He ignored he apologies. "O-Okay, you've all met; we need to leave now before I get in trouble." Blendin reached to his belt to pull out the time traveling tape measure. However, all he felt was the side of his leg. "Ohhh no." He looked all around until his eyes laid on it smashed on the floor. "Oh no! Oh no no no no no! I-I'm so dead!" He picked up the shattered pieces of the device and whined. "I-I never should've agreed to this!" He turned to the couple. "D-Do you guys have a screwdriver or something? Anything?"

"Yeah." Wendy strode off with Blendin following behind. The older Dipper awkwardly cleared his throat as he was left alone with the younger twins. "So... why are you guys here?" _He found it really odd to be talking to himself..._

"Dipper was being a butt saying how he'd never ever get a girlfriend, and his life will be pathetic in the future, so I proved him completely wrong!" To punctuate her remark, she turned to her teen brother and said "I. Told. You. So." While booping his nose. "Your life's not pathetic, right Older Dip?" Mabel asked him. "I... don't think so..."

'Older Dipper' stepped forward and put a hand on his younger self's shoulder. Though it felt unbelievably weird, he thought it'd be a good idea to give his younger self some much needed advice. "Uh, so..." He paused a minute to search for the right words. "Try not to freak out so much... You'll turn out pretty fine..." He gave the younger a docile smile which was returned. "Thanks..."

Wendy and Blendin returned after a short while. "O-Okay, I think we fixed it. We really gotta go now, guys." He stood beside the twins and all three placed their hand on the device. "Bye!" Mabel happily waved as they disappeared.

"Huh, that doesn't happen everyday." Wendy remarked. Her husband just shrugged and looked at the clock. "Jeez, it's late-er- early?" The redhead yawned and stalked off to bed in response, and he followed.

* * *

Ten years in the past, Dipper and Mabel arrive back home. Blendin speedily left as soon as they returned. Mabel smiled as she could clearly see her twin's spirit had been significantly lifted. He started off toward his bedroom but paused in Mabel's doorway. "Hey, Mabes?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks." He grinned.

"Anytime, goofus."

* * *

Y'know what? I thought I invented the word goofus and then I heard it on Gravity Falls, and I died a little inside. Well, hope you enjoyed this little story. -DD


End file.
